Superfood

Part of the new wave of bands coming out of Birmingham, Superfood have never released an album, and only have one official song released. They are currently touring with Peace, a fellow B-Town band, and are gradually building up a loyal fan base all over the UK. Considering the amount of songs they've released, this has been done purely on the strength of their live shows and word of mouth, which, when you think about it, is pretty damn impressive.

Superfood only have one sound on Soundcloud, and it's their self-titled debut track. The quality of the voice is slightly gritty and unclean, and the shouting in the background gives you the impression it was recorded in someone's spare room - it's by no means a bad thing. All of that compliments the raw quality of the song. The bass in particular, played by the awesome Emily Baker, holds the whole thing together; the rest of the song is built around the ever-present slides and pangs of the bass. But it's not all unwashed and somewhat slightly dazed: the clean kick of the drums and the backing vocals that croon "superfoooood" add the tiny bit of polish needed so they don't sound like they recorded it in the back of a moving tour bus. However, the fact that the majority of it is very much guitar-based allows the song to do Rolling Stones with a bit of Foo Fighters. The one thing that I don't like about the song is the tendency of the lead singer to sound a bit Top of the Pops during the verses, by which I mean a bit boy band-y in the way he pronounces some words - however, that's all gone by the time you get to "YOU'RE ALWAYS HUNGRY!!" Crowd-pleaser if ever there was one.



Superfood sound like the illegitimate lovechild of Alex Turner and Dave Grohl. Which makes me love them. A lot. Jump on the Superfood bandwagon now, before their Facebook likes and Twitter followers get above 5,000! It'll happen soon, trust me. Especially if they keep on going like this.

Rating 8/10

Swim Deep

 "It's like escapism, and really good imagery. When you say "Swim Deep", you imagine good stuff, very picturesque". This is how Austin Williams of Swim Deep described the band's name, in an interview with Freshly Squeezed last year. But really, he could've been describing  the music they make and it would still be just as appropriate. To some degree, every one of their four singles has a sense of freedom and beauty, as though they were written in a daydream to which only Swim Deep are party. Their songs make you long for the days of summer, when you can forget the pressures of everyday life and just relax, behave like a complete twat, whatever. Just because you can.

I feel an urge to smile whenever I hear their latest single She Changes The Weather, a beautiful song about loving a girl to the ends of the earth. Close your eyes and pretend the song's about you, and you'll see what I mean. The low-key lyrics and understated voice allow the sincerity of the lyrics to come across, and the movement from the acoustic introduction to the full-blown ending flows so perfectly that the music carries you with it. It's in the verse, when it's stripped down to the bass, drums and voice that you really appreciate the importance of the piano riff in this song. Speaking as a pianist, I love that it's been given a "starring role", so to speak, in this song; it's not often that a piano is given much importance in an indie rock song, and I applaud them for it.

The Sea is another gorgeously uplifting song - the perfect gig closer, or encore song. It's so wonderfully optimistic and upbeat about life that it makes me want to smile at strangers, or start dancing in the middle of the street. The truth is, Swim Deep don't need to do dark, moody and introspective, because they make you think anyway, with encouraging choruses and fantastic melodies.

They also make it ok to be a little bit scruffy. Take the video for King City. They're wearing jumpers and trousers that are too big for them, they skateboard, and Zachary Robinson has pink hair. What more could you want from a band that validates your own slightly unwashed hair? Just for this, I adore them. Honey makes me love them even more. The cheeky flirting with the Honey, the paint splattered faces (and bass) and the playfulness of the lyrics - my personal favourite is "don't just dream in your sleep, it's just lazy". Wise words indeed - somehow all come together to make life ok. And that's why I love Swim Deep.

Rating: 10/10

Recommended Tracks:
Honey
King City
Orange County

Daughter - If You Leave

In trying to find words to describe Daughter to my friends and interested parties, I start off with "imagine if Laura Marling joined The xx". The truth is, they're so much more than that. Yes, Elena Tonra's voice has the soft, intimate tone associated with Laura Marling et al, but it's the work of guitarist Igor Haefeli and drummer Remi Aguilella that set them apart from that cliche. Because frankly, just because Laura Marling is gorgeous and oh-so acoustic, it's just lazy to brand every artist that sounds vaguely like her as "THE NEXT LAURA!" More imagination, please.

There are so many subtleties and nuances to Daughter's music that it's hard to know where to begin. My favourite track on the album is definitely Youth, a heart wrenching song about the pain of losing a lover. It starts with a delicate guitar solo, and as Tonra's voice comes in with "shadows settle on the place that you left" my heart starts melting. Her voice is so ethereal and gentle that it just transports you to a whole different world, there and then. But the credit can't all go to Tonra; the talents of Haefeli and Aguilella can't go unnoticed. Neither the drums nor guitar are there to take centre stage and demand attention - it's very clear from the start that the music is very much about Elena (she wrote all of the lyrics) - but they do such a good job of building up the song around her that it feels so natural for the drums to be kicking in at "it was a flood that wrecked this home, and you caused it"; that certainly isn't a one-woman job. To forget the importance of Haefeli and Aguilella is to forget the entire essence of the album, which is a crime against Daughter.

Frontwoman Elena Tonra

The thing that struck me most about this album was the pain and heartache that ran through it, almost as a unifying theme. Still is the perfect example.The poignancy with which Tonra writes about heartbreak makes you sure that the album has been her way of dealing with it - and at that I just want to give her a massive hug and tuck her into bed with a hot water bottle, because she takes it all upon herself. Take Smother, or Tomorrow. In Smother, she berates herself for the end of the relationship, singing, almost angrily, "in the darkness I will meet my creators, and they will all agree that I'm a suffocator", as though she's still in the what-did-I-do-wrong phase. The music calms down towards the end, as she whispers balefully "oh no, I'm sorry if I smothered you". Tomorrow pleads "don't bring tomorrow, cos I already know I'll lose you". This fatalistic sixth sense Tonra has about the end of relationships is haunts every song on the CD, making it even more beautiful.

This album reaches an emotional level that I didn't even think was possible. Not only does it reach it, but it ascends it in the most elegant and gorgeous way possible.

Rating: 10/10

Recommended tracks:

Amsterdam

Shallows

Human

Blackfoot Circle

Yesterday, Blackfoot Circle announced that they were joining the likes of stadium-filling names such as The Stone Roses, The Maccabees and Paloma Faith who are going to be playing the Isle of Wight festival this June. It's good going for a band who come from Portsmouth and who haven't released a full studio album yet. They haven't even been signed yet, for Christ's sake.

However, there is a very, very good reason why they are playing at such a prestigious festival. Their songs possess a folky quality with just enough electric guitar so as to make them not too Mumford & Sons, but just enough banjo so as to give a nod to them. There's also an undertone of incessant anger and discontent behind the insistent guitar and scratchy vocals of lead singer Jake; the same thing has worked for bands like the aforementioned Mumford, so may it work its magic again with these boys.

As is often the way, I stumbled upon this gem of a band on Youtube, and I really didn't expect what I found. The track that I clicked on was Whiskey & Gin, a song that's about "going home and catching [someone] with your missus", according to Jake. The unpolished-ness of the whole song, the tone of the vocals, the subject matter, the way he mutters "fuck it!", pretty much sums up who Blackfoot Circle are as a band. There's no pretentious air of a band who think they've made it before they really have - these guys are waiting quietly for their turn in the spotlight, and in the meantime keep bashing out some fantastic tunes. Keep 'em comin', lads!

Rating: 8.5/10

Recommended tracks:
Racket of the Records
Counterfeit
Texas Headlights

Peace - In Love

This last week has seen the release of Peace's debut album In Love and already they've enjoyed considerable success, taking into account the fact that they're just four lads from good old Blighty. NME lauded them as "Britain's best live band", giving the album a 9/10 and finishing with "this is their time". None of that is misplaced. They do rock anthem in a whole new way. Take Follow Baby, for instance. No guitar-shredding solo, no moments of rock 'n' roll diva behavior, but it manages to combine the rock 'n' roll lifestyle with surprisingly thoughtful lyrics, like "I'm scared to die but maybe a faithless bribe could save me".

The title of the album encompasses everything it's about; first love, awkward crushes, teenage fantasies and lust. The subject of love and all its friends may be a bit overdone by now, but because it's so universal it can never get old - the trick is finding an unexplored niche. That's pretty much what Peace have done. They've taken the gawkiness and obsessiveness of teenage love and turned it into something that seems glamorous and really damn awesome. Float Forever is an example of the "lighter in each hand" kind of song, but the tone is something completely different; it pleads with you to trust them, despite all your faults. I don't know about you lot, but I'm definitely willing to do so. 

The band themselves are also "rock and roll" but with a twist. The line up is Harrison Koisser doing lead vocals and guitar, his brother Sam Koisser on bass, Doug Castle on guitar and Dominic Boyce on drums. Even the way they dress isn't quite right for a rock band (in the Follow Baby video Harrison is wearing a green be-sequined top under a leather jacket with Marilyn Monroe on the back) but it works so well. They're not just a pretty face either, they're clearly highly intelligent and very well spoken, which is something you're lucky to find in people that cool. And there's something slightly odd and disconcerting about their music videos. Bloodshake takes psychedelia as an inspiration and as a consequence is hard to fathom. Wraith sees the boys staring nonplussed straight past a pair of scantily clad women that have the incredible ability to move their bums independently of the rest of their bodies. But again, it all comes together in a beautifully quirky and individual way.

These guys are definitely destined for something big, and if they don't get it by the end of this year, I'll eat my hat.

Rating: 9/10

Recommended tracks:

Toxic (with Lucy Rose on back up!!)

Higher Than The Sun (")

Waste Of Paint